Marianne's FLASH💥DEVOS Podcast

Psalm 30:5, 11-12 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever. + It is difficult to live in the image of God whose “anger lasts only a moment,” and whose “favor lasts a lifetime.” Yet God’s love invigorates us with an eternal power we can tap for change in ourselv...

Isaiah 46:4 I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you. + Nature reveals the imperishable Power Greater than All Others. Whether it is human nature, the physical world around us, or an intuitive knowing, e...

Here’s an essay about learning to heal loneliness, offered to you as a Thank-You gift for reading, listening, and praying along with me during May. I feel so encouraged by your presence. May reflecting on respectful relationships bring insight and hope into your world. The Museum of My Lonely Heart by Marianne Abel-Lipschutz My complicated history with stealing may have started on nature walks in...

Proverbs 2:4-5 That’s right—if you make Insight your priority, and won’t take no for an answer, Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt, Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God. + Today’s International Day for Biological Diversity implores everyone to address inequality, respect traditio...

Acts 11:25-26 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. + The spiritual revival in Antioch around 46 A.D. flourished so broadly that locals called the diverse crowds by the nickname “Christians.”...

Luke 10:23-24 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “ Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it .” + Jesus places abundant power within our grasp--literally his hands in our hands, his words in our mouths, his life in our bodies. Reconciliation wo...

Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. + Once a truth sets you free, new conversations emerge. It’s surprising how people and things that used to be important drift into the past. Vocabulary changes. Tone of voice shifts. Maybe you’re read...

Luke 12:29-32 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” + The “you” in “give you the kingdom” means all of us....

Luke 5:4-6 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. + Obedience with 51% compliance yields miracles in...

John 21:12-14 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. + An invitation from Jesus simplifies life and messes with our...

Revelation 3:17-18 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. + In Christ, even the wretched become...

Acts 5:18-20 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” + Public jail and a brutal flogging didn’t silence the apostles. “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stoppe...

My March Thank-You gift to readers and listeners of Flash💥Devos is this article about a puddle that kept me company through the first COVID months of 2020 and beyond. This body of water served me as a Visio Divina , a sacred window of possibility that I searched with the eyes of my heart and soul. I pray that an environmental image or experience can be your holy partner through a time of grief an...

Romans 15:4-6 “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us . God wants the combination of a steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. + Make the word come alive! Read scripture out loud whenev...

Hebrews 2: 8-9 We do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. + Our burdens seem daunting. Imagine having to “taste death.” Jesus showed that it’s hard and humbling to give up our lives for others. When Jesus calls our communities to high expectations,...

John 19:41-42 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. + The solemn gifts of myrrh, aloes, linen cloths, and a fresh tomb couldn’t dress up the fact that Jesus died. Rituals give us pause to contemplate th...

Hebrews 12:1-3 Keep your eyes on Jesus , who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. Go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your sou...

Isaiah 50:8-9 The Lord God who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let them come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. + Nearly six hundred years before Jesus, Isaiah prophesied that a gracious person could face the terror of cruc...

Psalm 105:39-41 He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night. They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert. + God’s stunning hospitality offers a soul food banquet when we seek help. God transforms clouds, fire, food, and water into comfort, hope, love, and...

1 Samuel 3:8-9 Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. + Have you waited longer than Samuel for answers from God? Give it time. Trust your sacred place. Listen. Stay...

2 Thessalonians 2:17 May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. + Click the reset button on your vitals: let the love of Christ animate your inmost being. Others will gain traction on the goodness that surrounds you, especially in the midst of diffic...

Genesis 21:6-7 Now Sarah said, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." And she said, "Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." + God often uses the creative and generative power of women to cast vision and bring joy. Sparking outbursts of laughter among elders in the community is glorious wors...

Thank you to all who’ve been praying with me during March as we celebrate Divine mercy. Today’s thank-you gift is a Lenten revelation about attuning to Christ’s suffering through experiences I had at Prairiewoods, a Franciscan Eco-Spirituality Center in Hiawatha, Iowa. May the gift of reconciliation come to you through nature as well, a reciprocal movement of loving forgiveness that shifts how we...

Luke 15:1-2 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “ Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them .” + Jesus offered parables for homework. What would you do? When our choices don’t match our values, the conf...

Luke 13:7-9 “‘Now these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it deplete the soil?’ “He answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you shall cut it down.’ ” + Fruit-bearing seasons vary for all living things. Stagnant times of grief and...